Learn me: Welding Gas

In reply to Mr_Asa :

My place here in Cincinnati, Weld Plus, takes a deposit on the tank then when empty you pay for the gas and get an exchange tank.  When finished, you take it back and get your deposit back... all of it.  Oh, and if they don't have an exchange ready they will fill it.

Sonic said:

Nobody has ever so much as glanced at the bottle I've brought them at either Airgas or Praxair.  I leave it on the dock and get a slip from the dock worker, bring it inside, pay, leave with a different bottle that is full.  

Huh.  They check mine every time.  I must look shady or something.   Lolz.

Ever look at the test dates on cylinders?

Indy "Nub" Guy said:

TSC, Tractor Supply Company, does bottle exchanges.  FYI. An alternative to AirGas.

TSC up here in Canada has Praxair bottles for exchange which is nice. If you need the gas now and it's a Sunday afternoon you can exchange it at TSC but if you have time to swing by a Praxair when they are open there are some saving there.

Indy "Nub" Guy said:

TSC, Tractor Supply Company, does bottle exchanges.  FYI. An alternative to AirGas.

I'm a little east of you in Polk County, but our local Tractor Supply carries both Argon/CO2 mix, and straight Argon.  Picked up a bottle of each last weekend.  Not all stores carry it, but you'll see a metal enclosure outside like you typically see for propane.  If you don't have a tank, there is a buy in fee, but if you can find an old tank they will swap it out.  They offer several sizes depending on how much you plan to do.

We use a regular supply company for work, but for the home shop I use Tractor Supply.  When you unexpectedly run out of gas on a weekend (like I did), it's easier to run down and swap it out instead of waiting to do it during the week.  Also no daily/monthly tank rental fee like the supply company charges.

So I went and picked up a pair of bottles today, then drug 'em home and rooted around the garage till I found my regulators.  Turns out they are an oxygen and acetylene regulator for a torch.

I know one has a female thread so I can't use it, and I seem to remember that the other may be reverse thread but didn't look closely.  Can I use these or do I just find a regulator somewhere else?

Mr_Asa said:

So I went and picked up a pair of bottles today, then drug 'em home and rooted around the garage till I found my regulators.  Turns out they are an oxygen and acetylene regulator for a torch.

I know one has a female thread so I can't use it, and I seem to remember that the other may be reverse thread but didn't look closely.  Can I use these or do I just find a regulator somewhere else?

My MIG welder came with a regulator.

In reply to triumph7 :

I was given this from a friend, and in turn he had it given to him by a client.  I'm just happy it has the spool gun still attached

Mr_Asa said:

So I went and picked up a pair of bottles today, then drug 'em home and rooted around the garage till I found my regulators.  Turns out they are an oxygen and acetylene regulator for a torch.

I know one has a female thread so I can't use it, and I seem to remember that the other may be reverse thread but didn't look closely.  Can I use these or do I just find a regulator somewhere else?

Any fuel uses reverse thread so you don't hook it up to Grandpa's oxygen by mistake.  He'd smoke his cigars faster if you did, though.

MIG uses a flow meter, not a pressure meter - so you can't use the regs you picked up.

The valve on an Argon/CO2 tank should have internal threads and a ball-seat inside.

The valve on a CO2 tank should have external threads and a flat-disc washer seal inside.

As far as I know, the regs are the same between the two systems.

Are there good and bad flow meters?  Anything to shy away from with them, or do I just grab the first one I see on Amazon?

I've bought cheap and they've been fine.

I think the floating pea type is a more accurate measurement system.  The round gauges are measuring pressure against an orifice.

Both types are calibrated for a specific gas density, but are usually close enough that it's not important.

When welding you learn how much gas you need for the conditions on your meter.